The Biggest Worry
by Noir
Summary: An illustration of Trinity's visit with the Oracle: pre-movie.


_ I don't own any of the characters, I'm not making any money off of this, etc. Visit my site at [http://glitterkitty.net/cloudy][1] if you'd like.  
Summary: Before the movie, it illustrates Trinity's audience with the Oracle. My first fan fiction. _  
  


**The Biggest Worry**  
written by [Noir][2], 11.06/00  


  
  
The car traveled quickly along the hard pavement, occasionally hitting a pothole or a large bump, causing Trinity's head to bang roughly into the tan ceiling. Clenching her fists on the soft grey car seat, she grumbled to both herself and the ceiling. "Watch where you're driving, Apoc," she growled.  
  
Apoc, who was driving the old black car, glanced in the rearview mirror at his steely-looking passenger in the back seat. Raising an eyebrow, he simply nodded and returned his view back to the road ahead. Morpheus however, who was riding shotgun, turned around and watched her for a moment before speaking.  
  
"Are you feeling alright, Trinity?"  
  
Gritting her teeth silently to herself, Trinity fought to keep her voice calm and under control. "I'm fine, Morpheus, yes."  
  
He raised an eyebrow, eyeing her skeptically and further breaking down her resolve. She sighed.  
  
"Well, I guess this visit has got me a little more uptight than usual," she admitted, glancing away.  
  
Morpheus' hand under her chin startled her for a moment, breaking her normally concrete-like outer shell, before she regained her usual stoic appearance. He looked into her eyes with all the devotion and respect of a father just seeing his now grown-up daughter for the first time. "She is a guide, Trinity, nothing more. You should not fear her."  
  
"I'm not _afraid_ of her, it's just.." Trinity struggled to phrase what she meant correctly. Morpheus' hand dropped back to his side as he watched her closely, trying to determine what she was thinking.  
  
Apoc once again glanced up into the rearview mirror at her. "Just got the jitters because you're nervous about what she may say?"  
  
Trinity looked up sharply; he had hit the nail right on the head. _Heh, and I didn't even know there was a nail.._ she thought, slightly bemused. "Yeah, Apoc; exactly."  
  
Apoc grinned. "Thought so; felt the same way myself when I was going to see her for the first time. It isn't anything to worry about though, Trin; she just gives you a bit of cryptic advice and foreshadows your future and 'path' a bit.. Nothing too major."  
  
Morpheus rolled his eyes at Apoc's description of the Oracle's advice-tactics, but said nothing, turning back around in his seat.  
  
Trinity sighed again and leaned back into her own seat, looking at the world zooming by her window. _It looks so real_ she thought, marveling at it's intracacies and design. _It's a pity that it isn't.._  
  
Apoc's words had helped some, but she still felt nervous about the coming meeting. From what she had heard about the Oracle, she seemed to be practically a goddess on earth, proclaiming prophecies and declaring truths right and left. _Oh well,_ Trinity mused, resting her head against the back of the car seat. _At least this should prove to be more interesting than cleaning up the mess hall back on the ship.._  
  


* * *

  
"You must open the door for yourself, Trinity," Morpheus said, giving the woman a pointed look as they stood in the narrow hallway together. Trinity tilted her head slightly, re-adjusting her shades, before stepping forward and reaching for the doorknob.. Before she could reach it, however, it swung around and the door opened for her.  
  
Surprised she stepped back, but seeing that only a kindly-looking, young black woman stood in the doorway, she stepped forward again, and walked through the door.  
  
"Morpheus, if you would wait here please. Trinity, come with me," the woman said, gesturing with her arm to another doorway just inside the one leading into the hall. Shrugging mentally, Trinity followed the lady.  
  
They entered a small, cozy looking living room filled with bright-eyed youngsters playing. Trinity thought nothing of it until she noticed a little girl drawing with a pen and paper, without touching them.. Fascinated, Trinity watched the pen moving across the paper seemingly by itself, the girl's eyes focused on it the whole time.  
  
Suddenly, the woman who had guided her in here tapped Trinity on her shoulder. After Trinity jumped, startled, the woman gave a wan smile and directed her into the next room. Still a bit jumpy from the start she had received, Trinity just nodded and obliged.  
  
A curtain of beads proved to be the only door into the room Trinity was headed for, with turned out to be a warm-looking kitchen. An old black woman with greying hair and a wrinkled, but kind, face sat at the table just inside the door, watching Trinity amusedly.  
  
"Please, have a seat, my dear," the woman purred, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one. "I suppose you can call me the Oracle."  
  
Trinity's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled out a varnished wooden chair across the table from the woman. The Oracle chuckled.  
  
"A bit of a twist on what you had expected, right?" she asked, blowing smoke rings up to the low ceiling.  
  
"Slightly.." Trinity muttered, glancing up at the grey smoke cloud now billowing just around the light fixture.  
  
"Only slightly?" the Oracle asked, peering at Trinity more closely, as if disbelieving her.  
  
"Well, yes, since I didn't have much of an idea about what you'd look like anyways," Trinity explained, somewhat exasperated.  
  
"Hmm.." the Oracle rumbled, deep in her chest. Noticing Trinity's attention had now moved to the window to their right and what lay beyond it, she spoke again. "Lovely, isn't it?"  
  
"What?" Trinity asked, not sure of what the Oracle was talking about.  
  
"This world, the Matrix." The Oracle puffed another ring of smoke upwards as she too stared out the window at the skyscrapers and clouds.  
  
"It's not real," Trinity said flatly.  
  
"Oh it's real enough. People can make a life here, if they don't know the truth about the _real_ world. You can make memories and hope anywhere, my girl," the Oracle said, focusing her gaze now on the pretty young woman before her. "It doesn't matter if it's real by technical terms or not, as long as the people within it think it's real."  
  
Tilting her head, Trinity thought for a moment. "I can see what you're saying, but I still don't think it's 'lovely'. I've grown too used to the ship and the real world to be fooled by a few lines of code. This place may be easier on the eyes, but it'll never be home to me."  
  
The Oracle tipped her cigarette at the suddenly relaxed Trinity. "You're a bright girl, but you still don't quite know what's going on."  
  
"Excuse me?" Trinity asked, tightening up again. _The last thing I need is some sort of showdown between me and the Oracle.. I doubt even Apoc would've anticipated that much out of me,_ she thought edgily.  
  
The Oracle chuckled softly, taking a deep breath through the cigarette she was holding deftly between two fingers. "I didn't mean to offend you, child, only give you a bit more insight into yourself. You've always been a cold, hard person, haven't you?" The Oracle's look softened a bit, and to Trinity's surprise, a bit of sadness came into the older woman's eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Trinity said softly. "I was like this even as a small child; I guess I just don't trust people enough." Trinity looked down at her hands, perched on the edge of the table. She noticed all the little cracks and lines carved into the mostly-smooth surface of the table; all the tiny wrinkles in her hands. _God, I'm getting old,_ she thought with a start. _When did that happen?_  
  
"No dear, you're not getting old. Not by a long shot," the Oracle said with a sigh and another exhale of smoke. Trinity looked up, shocked.  
  
"How did you..."  
  
"How else would I see the paths and futures of our people? It's a gift of mine. You noticed Anna out there, didn't you?"  
  
Trinity thought for a moment, still surprised at the Oracle's appearant ability to read minds, and spoke. "The girl that was drawing?"  
  
The Oracle nodded. "She's a Potential. Manipulating objects with her mind is _her_ gift; forseeing other's paths is mine." The Oracle paused for a moment to shift slightly in her chair before continuing. "I must say, you've got a fairly important road ahead of you, Trinity. You'll be a key element in winning this war."  
  
Trinity's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" Trinity too paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm not.. I _can't_ be the One."  
  
"No, you're not. But you are almost as important," the Oracle said, pointing the end of the cigarette at the startled woman sitting across the table. "Without you, you see, the One would not exist, and before you ask; no, the One is _not_ going to be your child."  
  
Trinity started to say something, but shut her mouth again as the Oracle continued to speak.  
  
"You are going to fall in love one day, Miss hardened warrior. You are going to lose that shield of yours and forget that you were ever a 'tough girl', at least when you are around him."  
  
"Who?" Trinity managed to ask, dumbfounded.  
  
The Oracle took a deep breath before going on. "You are going to fall in love," she repeated slowly. "And the man that you fall in love with will be the One."  
  
Trinity sat there, shell-shocked. Her hands fell limply into her lap as she, once again, stared back down at the scratches in the oak table. She quickly looked back up again though, as the Oracle began to speak.  
  
"He will find his strength in you, as you will in him. Without you, he would not be able to control the Matrix at all. You are going to tell him that you love him, when all hope seems lost, and _that_ my dear girl, will be what causes him to truly believe and accept that he is the One."  
  
Trinity shook her head slightly, mostly to clear out the wide jumble of thoughts and emotions that had just poured in, and sighed. "Is that all?" she asked somewhat meekly.  
  
"Not quite, but I won't go on much longer, since you don't look like you could take it. You are going to go through hardships and troubled times before you and yours will be happy and safe. That's a small price to pay though, considering what you get out of it."  
  
"And that is?" Trinity asked, regaining some of her color and strength again.  
  
The Oracle put out the remaining nub of her cigarette in a red ashtray in front of her. "Peace and happiness, both coming from him. I know you doubt me now, Trinity, but you'll see that this _will_ come true for you," with those last words, she stood up and reached around the table, pulling Trinity up as well. She stood there for a moment, holding this younger woman's hands and looking at her. Smiling, the Oracle leaned forward and pulled Trinity into a hug.  
  
Startled at first, Trinity started to pull away, but quickly stopped; she was too weak and confused to resist. And this hug was making her feel better anyways.. "There there now, child. Everything will turn out alright in the end, you'll see. You'd best be on your way now, before Morpheus starts getting worried."  
  
Trinity turned slowly and made her way back towards the beaded-curtained door, but suddenly stopped when the Oracle cried out. Trinity whipped back around in surprise, her instincts taking over in case of danger. The Oracle laughed at her caution. "It's alright dear, I just forgot a gift I've got for you."  
The old woman turned back around and opened up a cubboard behind the table next to the counter. Curious, Trinity tried to see what she was getting at, but could not.  
The Oracle turned back around, a triumphant smile on her face and a chunk of what looked like bread in her hand. Trinity grinned slightly when the Oracle pushed it into her hands.  
  
"Banana bread, my favorite. Thank you."  
  
"Oh that's alright, girl. You eat that up now, and take care of yourself. Tell Morpheus and the others I wish them the best," the older woman said, chuckling at Trinity's words and surprise at the gift. "I always try to give the people I speak with a bit of a treat; helps to mend any wounds I may have created with my words." The Oracle winked before shooing Trinity out through the beads and back into the living room.  
  


* * *

  
Opening the car door, Trinity quickly finished off the last of the bread and wiped her sticky fingers off before settling into the seat. Morpheus was already up front again, while Apoc was, of course, still in the driver's seat.  
  
"Hey, what was that?" he asked curiously, as he had seen Trinity devouring the tasty snack on the way out of the old building.  
  
"Nothing, just a bit of bread the Oracle gave me," Trinity replied nonchalantly as the car started up.  
  
Apoc and Morpheus chuckled. "Not so bad, is she now?" Morpheus asked, throwing a glance into the back seat. Apoc just laughed and rolled his eyes.  
  
Looking sheepish, Trinity agreed that the Oracle wasn't 'so bad'. "I don't know how much I should believe of the cryptic messages she gave me, Apoc, but she can make some damn good banana bread."  
  
Apoc burst out laughing and Morpheus joined in with a toothy smile. Trinity just stared out the window, considerably more happy now that the long-dreaded meeting with the Oracle was over, she had received at least some good (although rather puzzling) news.. And she was happily stuffed with some of the Oracle's good cooking.  
  
The sun was just beginning to set out in the distance, and she actually smiled at the sight. The Oracle was right; anyplace could be your home if you just had memories there. Sighing, she leaned back into the seat and closed her eyes, dreading the job that now lay ahead of her; cleaning the mess hall back on the Neb. At the moment, that was the biggest worry she had. 

   [1]: http://glitterkitty.net/cloudy
   [2]: mailto:noir@bytegirl.com



End file.
